Making better cooked meat products in Chile
GEA working with PF Alimentos to create fine foods in a sustainable way.
Customer profile: PF Alimentos
PF Alimentos in Chile is a leading food manufacturer. It’s a family firm, now into its fifth generation.
The company makes high-quality hams, salami, sausages, hamburgers, and much more, at six plants, and employs 1500 people. As well as the quality of its products, the company is committed to sustainability, safety and to creating a high quality of life for future generations.
Sander Panger is the company’s product development manager. “Our mission is to be the leader in the food industry and deliver products that our customers like best,” Sander explained. “Our aim is to create excellent products in a safe, sustainable and profitable way. We also want to continually search for new markets, develop new products and to help families with delicious, nutritious food today and in the future.”
“GEA cutters make the work easier, reduce energy consumption, reduce processing times and help us to develop new products much faster and more easily than you could imagine,”
Sander Panger
Product Development Manager at PF Alimentos
Working with GEA
Sander has worked with GEA technology, and its legacy products, for over 30 years. These include the versatile GEA CutMaster and CutMaster DUO for producing salami and both vegetarian and vegan products.
“Today all of our cutters are GEA,” said Sander. “They make the work easier, reduce energy consumption, reduce processing times and help us to develop new products much faster and more easily than you could imagine. In the past our mixing time was seven or eight minutes, now it’s just three of four minutes for a mixture of frozen and refrigerated meats. The GEA equipment is also very reliable. I don’t remember when we last had a stoppage caused by a component failure.”
The GEA defrosters in the factory prepare the meat using steam under near vacuum conditions to defrost quickly, maintain product quality and yield, and eliminate any risk of contamination. “It takes less than half the time of defrosting in the traditional way, and prevents product losses,” explained Sander.
“I just have to tell GEA that we want to make a new product. They then tell me what we should do, what we need and how we should develop it,”
Sander Panger
Product Development Manager at PF Alimentos
Product development
GEA also helps Sander in his role as product developer. He has the ideas, while GEA provide the means. “I just have to tell GEA that we want to make a new product. They then tell me what we should do, what we need and how we should develop it. That’s how the process starts.”
“When I get up in the morning, this is my passion,” he said. “It’s my biggest hobby and GEA is involved in everything,”
Sander Panger
Product Development Manager at PF Alimentos
The partnership
Sander greatly values the relationship and partnership PF Alimentos has with GEA. Not only does GEA provide market-leading technology, technical help and operational support, it also helps him to train his staff on how to operate and maintain the machines. For him, it’s a labor of love. “When I get up in the morning, this is my passion,” he said. “It’s my biggest hobby and GEA is involved in everything.”
Twice the cutting power
